The proving grounds, where dreams are made
 

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So I get up this Sunday morning.. all apprehensive and nervous.. todays the day. Thanks to Punchy (I can't say this enough) 16 camaro fans got taken on a tour of the desert proving grounds in mesa Arizona.

Arrival -

On arrival (10 minutes early) punchy met us outside the gate and started handing around our id tags (required for entrance). After some introductions and a search for camera's we all loaded into a passenger van to start our tour.

With Punchy driving and narrating we wound through the streets and testing centers of the grounds and got some history, as well as looking for pre-production vehicles. The grounds have been sold and GM is leasing it back until the army installation is ready for them in Yuma. By selling the grounds GM not only gained liquidity in the form of cash but also saved a good 2 million in property taxes. During the tour we drove by the 2.5 mile strait away and someone (I think firstgen4ever) mentioned what are those swamp coolers for? We all looked over and there are about 4-5 swamp coolers beside the track.. Punchy informed us that those hook to vents in the track that they park over to cool the engines and brakes and car in general. We also saw the tow able dyno's (the reason for the hitch and attachments on the back). After passing and gazing at different road surfaces, speed bumps, washboard, grooved roads we ended up in the middle of the circle track (you can see it on the Google maps).

The Ride -

While we waited for the corvettes to show up and give us our anticipated ride, punchy delivered the news that he believed there was NO Camaro's on the property. Sad we were but also unbelieving and we kept our eyes peeled! Also we got the benefit of watching a Nascar run the circle track as we waited (Number 78 if any Nascar fans are out there). finally after some info pumping questions tossed out at punchy who admittedly didn't know A LOT the corvettes showed up. 2 c6's and 1 c5 zo6. The drivers were introduced and my horrible memory can't remember more than Jason(Punchy if you could give names that would be great i left my pen and pad at home). We all gazed and even after all the excitement were a little nervous about going first. They loaded us up and took off. Let me say, these guys can drive! Drifting S curves at over 100MPH and then doing spins at 60+MPH is amazing with a professional driver! My driver Jason and I carried a wonderful conversation all throughout the ride.

The Grande' Finally -

So we all loaded back up into the van and started to head back towards the gate. Then the most beautiful words I have ever heard sounded.. Is that the Camaro!?!?! Sure enough, there being unloaded out of a enclosed semi, were 3 black pre-production Camaro's (2 already unloaded and third on its way out, one covered with a car cover). Punchy pulled around and stopped in front of them as we all gazed in rapture. Punchy opened his door and the first thing heard was... Can we get out and look at them?!?!?! He looked at us and said yes. Instantly the door flew open and you had 16 camaro freaks all over the uncovered car. I wont go into all the details because most of whats been reported was just confirmed (tire size, still sporting the pre-prod headlights, ect) so I will just go into the stuff that hasn't been confirmed.

The drivers window was down I noticed as I walked down the passenger side. My first thought, This car is SMALL. To me its SMALLER than a 4th gen. Its roof height comes up to just over my nipple (roughly 55-56 inches). It was an automatic with 2 tone seats (red inserts and black body), everyone was gazing at the body and interior (which still isn't finished) and from my view through the passenger window I spied.. PADDLE SHIFTERS on the steering wheel. Also there was a center speaker in the top of the dash (No sign of HUD). All the while this is happening the semi driver that was unloading started yelling at punchy and he started rounding us up. Back in the van you could hear a collective sigh, this car has soul and passion without even moving.

Back in the van we headed back out the gate, unloaded and walked back to the gift shop, where we all loaded up on shirts hats and free postcards! All of this was punctuated by talk about the Camaro's. After all the purchasing and winding down we all walked back to the parking lot and went our own ways, another 16 disciples for the new 5th gen.

http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/m...p00/dpg001.jpg
The shirt design owned and copyrighted by GM

The DPG is all out of the Camaro t-shirts and won't be ordering any more at this time. If things change they will let us know.

Thank you very much, sir.

One "small" question...

I am 6'7" tall, do you think I'm going to be comfortable in the new Camaro?

Thanks again!

Diarmadhi, covered everything I can remember. Talk about the experience of a lifetime. I can't wait to pick-up my new Camaro from the dealership, they are beautiful in just pre-production trim.

The Corvette drive was incredible, at first I was nervous in the turns, but after he did the 360 spin in 4 gear on the straight away I settled right down. I am still grinning from ear to ear.

I asked for the guys that didn't get to go this time, Punchy said they are having a tour on Friday. Give Punchy a PM and he will see what he can set up. They are also talking about having an open house sometime in November.

This was one event I will never forget, thank you so much Punchy.

thanks again to Punchy. you rock. that was amazing experience. the vette ride was great.
diarmadhi you did forget one thing. when we were all in the van going back to the gate. did you not see the light shine down from heaven and hear the angles start singing?? :wub: i don't ever think i have seen some many people drooling at one time. this was the first 5th gen i have seen in person and i will never forget it. kind of like the first girl you kissed, or the first.... :rolleyes: well you know what i mean. the camaro is even better looking in person. i can't wait till i can get one of my own.

I'm glad you guys enjoyed yourselves. :thumbup:

This is my first post to this board, although I've been following this and other forums since the reveal of the Camaro Concept, and I want to use this opportunity to thank Punchy and our Corvette drivers for being the sort of people all Auto Enthusiasts should be. This was an opporunity of a lifetime for us and we are all greatful for their generosity.

diarmadhi recalled everything with great detail. What started as a "there are no camaros on the grounds" ended spectacularly. Only after we all left did it hit me that the Camaros we saw might very well be the ones Corey photographed in Florida!

Sounds like it was quite an amazing experience. Everything from the thrill ride to the suprise at the end. I would love to be a part of that. Punchy you will have a pm shortly.

To all the guys that were able to attend this past weekend, I'm VERY jealous. =P

Great info! lucky turds >_<

wow good story, it sounded like a excellent experience. must be a unexplainable feeling seeing the prepo for the first time.

keep us updated with all this stuff happening in arizona cause it looks like thats were all the main testing is being done, and most of the sitings

I couldn't have done a better writeup myself! It looks like you covered everything. I never realized how in depth they go in recreating road surfaces for testing. I believe I even saw one section marked Mexican Cobblestone, which I have never heard of. Thanks to Punchy for setting up that tour, it was a blast and the corvette ride was incredible! I think it may have been Punchy who called in the favor to have the Camaros delivered just for us. :D That car looks mean even sitting in a dusty old lot, I have never seen one in person before and I am amazed at how well the car looks. I don't think anybody will be dissapointed with it.

Lucky bast*rds!

one word.. SUPERCHARGER!!

You guys are so ridiculously lucky it's not even funny! *jealous*

Seriously though, that's awesome.

Dumb question though, if they sold the desert proving grounds, where are they going to do future North American testing?

Agreed, lucky bunch of Camaro5 members. Thanks to Punchy :thumbup: :thumbup:
Great writeup, thanks for sharing that. Hope to hear from the others that went also.

New GM testing facility will be in Yuma, AZ

Awesome
 

Thanks for shearing your, one of your best day's of your life with us here :w00t: :bow:

Can you tell me were I could buy one of those awesome t-shirts at :confused0068:

great post:thumbup: and i was wondering the same thing, im 6'5" and its a tad tight in my thrid gen now, but its ok, so as long as there is equal amount of room as in the last few gens...we should be fine...?

You can only get them at the proving ground gift shop, and of course they are sold out now (I think)

Due to the multiple demands on height issues.. heres what i posted over on camaroz28.com in response to how roomy the car is..

Newbie here. Thanks to Bouncertime for inviting me to go with him today. I had a blast and the new Camaro is awesome. The Vette ride was incredibly fun.

As for the person above that asked about the T-shirt. They have them in the gift shop at the facility. Ask Punchy for details on how to get one, or maybe call the Proving Grounds and ask for the gift shop.

Great info!

This kinda talk leads me to think that we might be seeing a monster engine in the top end V8. CTS-V engine anyone??? :drool: :drool:

sooooo . . . did anyone 'forget' to leave their camera behind? Nobody? Hmm. Thats fine, its nice to know that everyone plays by the rules and such.

(PM me the pictures . . . I won't tell anyone!)

I didn't see any cameras. I'm quite certain everyone did play by the rules, as much as it hurt to do so. I always have a camera, except today, and I sure missed my camera.

Crap another thing... Ill edit my main post.

The engineer guy responded to a question about the IRS, that it was not the same one the GTO had..

and like KG said.. I saw no cameras, the only pics i have are in my head...

You guys are killing me here. I keep waiting to come in here and see a pic. :sm0:

I believe I had a great group of people though and from what I was seeing, everyone played by the rules.

Punchy, we were sooooo worried that you were gonna lose your job over just letting us look at and paw them.. nobodies job is worth some pictures of a car that will be out soon enough.

You deserve a lot more respect than that.

Awesome post. All I can say is paddle shifters, S/C, and the GT500 was the benchmark. This new Camaro is going to be amazing, and I cant wait to get my hands on one.

And I do feel you all gave me that respect. Thanks guys. :thumbsup:

More good questions from behind the scenes.... the names where changed to protect the inocent!

Those questions where not asked simply because even if they are offered, they wouldn't be on these test mules. Those things don't need road testing just workup in a lab and then endurance tested in a warehouse. From what i saw of the interior, you will get standards stuff for climate controls and there was no nav screen/display.

There was this one guy with a camera but Punchy spotted him, spoke into his 2-way radio and before we knew it, a fleet of black Suburbans showed up outa nowhere and hauled the guy off! Didn't see him again. If I didn't know better, I'd swear FbodFather was driving one! :confused0068:

Actually, contrary to typical Arizona wild west behavior, we all were very appreciative of what Punchy was doing for us and had no problem leaving our cell phones behind.:respekt:

But I will say this, There's at least 3 test mules in Mesa, AZ and I travel about 100 miles a day for work. I do have both a camera and camcorder in tow. I have no problem being late to wherever I'm going if it's for a good cause. If I see one in the wild it's GAME ON! :headbang:

MORE I WANT MORE!!!

Is it really small? I saw the concept in real life. I didn't find it that small. The production car was only going to be like 1 inch smaller.

Was it what you expected, was it more? Anyway, more detail.

You kissed, now Tell!!

All this small talk has me a bit worried. The Bumblebee Saleen GTO which is the same size as the original concept is not small by any means. Is it smaller than a 98 Ford Mustang??? Is the front seat lower to compensate where you can't see the hood at all while driving as in the 4th gen camaro? If you are over 6 feet, how much head room from the top of your head to the roof can we expect? As for all you lucky forum members that got to be there, I envy all of you. I know all of these answers will be solved once they hit showroom's, however it would be nice to know sooner so I can make my decision between the Camaro and the new Challenger. From reading the specs of both car's, the Camaro is supposed to be wider than the Challenger... Is this true?

Remember, non of us has seen the Concept in person and I know that the pre-production car was smaller than I expected, but it is not tiny by any means. It is definetly bigger than a Mustang.

That's good to hear. I'm glad you guys had fun while you were there and did actually see the camaro. I wish they had let you take photographs of the event considering we already have photo's of the car's you saw. The most interesting comment was the one about the GT500 which means we should be seeing a 500HP Camaro or better in the works?

diarmadhi, thank you for that very detailed write up!!! You are to be commended, sir!

Punchy, I can't even begin to thank you enough for putting forth this effort and taking these folks out for the tour. I mean really....that was very kind of you.:clap:

I could only imagine the great memories that were made today...vette ride doing 360's and drifting?? Dang! But, getting to see 3 black prepros out there!?! Now...why do ya'll think there was one completely covered up.....;) I'm guessing V6, V8, V8 SC...one for each black prepro. And...someone mentioned supercharger??? huh??? what have I been saying?!?!?!:bonk: Something that really makes me happy is that Bluetooth... I could use that all the time.:happyanim: Ah....and that's what the thing was on the dash!!! A speaker! Cool deal....sounds like we are going to have some 5.1 surround sound in this bad boy.:happyanim: :happyanim: Did you see a label w/ type of speaker?

Guys, you all are so lucky...living out there and getting to take part in something as cool as this. And, as much as I'd like to see pix, thanks for being honest and respectful to Punchy. Congratulations, guys. :clap: And, it really is that much better in person!:thumbsup:

+1 !!!!!!!

I wasn't even there and I feel relieved. Total breath of fresh air.

Thanks Punchy and Diarmadhi

OMG super charger and the gt500 as a bench mark, someone is going to have to wipe off my keyboard

They had me at GT500 for a benchmark! :D

You guys are super lucky and Punchy is quite a generous person to allow the tour and peak.

Way to go!!!

Once again I'm glad you guys enjoyed yourselves, UNFORTUNATELY I'm not going to be able to give anymore tours at this time.

I don't expect the guys that came here to not report what you've seen as I would do the same if I were in your shoes. I completely understand. There's just too much to try to keep under wraps at the grounds and I've created stress for some great employees there and it was the last thing I ever wanted to do.

So again I apologize but no more tours. :(

wow, since i live out here in Phoenix, and my best friend lived down the street from the proving grounds, i sure would have liked to be there.

nice to have assurance on the supercharger. that model will sure to be marked up 10k for a year and low production. even if they make it large production I can't see it stickering for under 38k. seems like you didn't get too many answers out of em but I bet it was kick ass just getting to see em up close. If I recall the gt500 dosn't do all that well when it comes to dyno runs and track handling. so says top gear but clarkson is bias against american cars